Jon Lebkowsky is co-wrangler of Plutopia News Network, and cohost at Radio Free Plutopia. Digital culture maven, podcaster, writer, co-operator, enzyme.
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Bio…
Jon Lebkowsky is cofounder, co-host, editor and sometimes blogger at Plutopia News Network, which is a freewheeling independent media organization co-operated with cofounder Scoop Sweeney. Jon is an authority on, and evangelist for, computer-mediated communications, virtual communities, and online social networks. He has been a writer, editor, publisher and digital culture maven. He also worked in various capacities as a project manager, systems analyst, technology director, and online community developer. He’s a greybeard, a meditator, and wishes he could play the sax.
This site was originally my blog, Weblogsky, and is loaded with old (but still interesting!) bits and pieces of my thinking and observations. I’m increasingly drawn to the Indie Web movement, aspiring to write longer form again, posting here and on the Plutopia News Network, a podcast and blog where I’m working with Scoop Sweeney, Maggie Duval, and Suzy Shelor to provide thoughtful, compelling content about culture, technology, media, and the future.
Here’s a bio written by ChatGPT:
Jon Lebkowsky is a well-known figure in the realms of digital culture, cyber liberties, and the future of the internet. He co-founded and currently co-hosts the Plutopia News Network, an independent media organization focused on the intersections of culture and technology. Additionally, he is a significant contributor to the annual “State of the World” discussions on The WELL, an influential online community platform, alongside science fiction author Bruce Sterling.
Lebkowsky is also a co-founder and former president of EFF-Austin, the local chapter of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where he now serves as secretary. He has over 25 years of experience managing technology projects and companies, including Polycot Associates, a worker-owned web development cooperative.
He has a rich history in online communities, having been involved with pioneering digital publications such as FringeWare Review, bOING bOING, and Mondo 2000. His work spans writing, consulting, and activism, particularly focused on digital rights, online privacy, and the socio-political impacts of technology.
Other current projects…
- Cofounder of the Plutopia News Network. Cohost of Plutopia News Network Podcast, Radio Free Plutopia, and Plutopia Live.
- Cofounder, former President, and member of the Board of Directors of EFF-Austin, an organization that’s been supporting digital freedom in Texas since 1990. EFF-Austin was originally founded to become a chapter of the national Electronic Frontier Foundation, but when EFF decided not to have chapters, the already robust local organization continued as an ally of EFF, but with no formal connection.
- the WELL (as community host)
Past projects…
- FringeWare (as CEO and as publisher and sometimes editor of FringeWare Review)
- Whole Earth (as a writer, and as “Consciousness” subdomain editor for the Millennium Whole Earth Catalog)
- WorldChanging (as blogger and co-author of the Worldchanging Guide to the 21st Century)
- Viridian Design Movement (as website manager)
- Mondo 2000 (as a writer)
- Boing Boing (as writer and associate editor)
- Factsheet Five (as book review editor)
- the Austin Chronicle (as writer)
- Society of Participatory Medicine (as cofounder and former board member)
- Extreme Democracy (as co-editor)
- Wireless Future (as project manager)
- Digital Convergence Initiative (as former board member)
- Plutopia Productions (as cofounder and Chief Digital Officer)
- Polycot Consulting (as cofounder and CEO)
- Social Web Strategies (as cofounder and social media consultant)
There’s more information at Wikipedia.
“Folding the Fringes” – TeamHuman conversation with Doug Rushkoff:
Future Fossils #0033: Jon Lebkowsky on Pluralist Utopias & The World Wide Web’s Wild West